MLB players on the impact of sports betting on fan interactions: ‘People suck, dude”

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We see the players’ performances. We see the gambling billboards. If we want to see the betting lines, we can easily find them, too.

What we don’t see is how gamblers interact with the players they bet on. In this year’s edition of The Athletic’s anonymous MLB player poll, our writers asked players about the experience — and to judge from the overwhelming responses we received from major leaguers, it’s even uglier and scarier than you think.

That, folks, is a landslide. But the most startling part was what the players said after “yes,” “no,” or “unsure.” In recent weeks, we’ve seen pitchers Lance McCullers Jr. and Liam Hendriks reveal that they and their families had been targeted with death threats. Harmless taunting – “Nice game, pretty boy” – is taking a darker turn, and the reason is obvious to players.

Most of the time, players said, the worst stuff comes to them anonymously on social media. “They wouldn’t say that stuff to your face,” one pitcher said. But it’s also become routine for fans to remind players of the betting lines for that day’s game  (Note: The Athletic has a business partnership with online sportsbook BetMGM.)

“As a starting pitcher, you go to warm up, and all it is is people hanging over the fence: ‘I’ve got you on the over!’” said one former National League All-Star. “You try to tune them out – that’s not my focus – but you hear that stuff and you’re very aware of what your over-under is for the day in strikeouts.”

The major league minimum salary is $760,000, theoretically rich enough for players to resist overtures from gamblers. But many players make only a pro-rated portion of that salary, based on the actual days they spend in the majors, and some players worry that a sinister element could infiltrate their ranks.

“My fear,” said one seven-year veteran, “is that these young guys coming in, if (a gambler) can manipulate them, I don’t want to ever see that happen.”

One veteran relief pitcher said he had gotten threats his entire career, but they’ve become more specific because of gambling. He, too, fears the worst.

“I’ve received (something) as simple as a Venmo request with a threat on it that says, ‘You owe me $9,000 because you blew the game – I need you to send me that money or I’m going to find your family,’” he said. “That’s too far. We’ve communicated as players to MLB security that we need to get a handle on this before it gets out of control. I don’t want to say this, but something bad is going to happen and it’s going to be like, ‘We told you so.’”

It was different, players said, when fans focused more on their fantasy teams. These days, they can tell there is a different level of intensity and that some fans want to take out their problems on the players who lost them money.

“It’s the worst thing that’s happened to the game since I’ve been up here,” one veteran outfielder said. “I think it’s only going to get worse because of how popular it is. There are ways to bet pitch-by-pitch in the stadium during the game. I’ll be in Wrigley in center field and I have people telling me they’re going to put money on me to hit a home run the next at-bat. I don’t need to know that.

“And then the hate stuff if you have a bad day (and) go 0-or-4 — it’s gotten out of hand. It’s a problem. And unfortunately, they’re not going to change it because there’s too much money in it.”

Many players reported that fans have found their Venmo accounts and are demanding money. One American League pitcher noted that Venmo requests often arrive before games are even over. (Yes, he’s changed his username.)

“It’s hostile at weird times,” he said. “It used to be, if you win or lose the game, fans are happy or sad. Now it’s like, if you don’t cover, they’re sad. Or if you give up a run in the first inning, they’re sad. Or if you throw a fastball instead of a curveball, they’re sad.”

Hitters have it even worse, he said, because home runs are such common bets but relatively rare occurrences.

“They’re always betting on homers,” he said. “These guys are trying to shoot the ball through the 4-hole and these (gamblers) have a homer bet and they’re screaming at them.”

Another pitcher we spoke to was less concerned and pointed to a positive aspect of the gambling craze.

“I have gotten some DMs over the years about whether bets have hit or not hit; that just comes with the territory,” he said. “But I think it’s cool, man. If you’re into that, and you don’t see it as a problem, and you do it responsibly, I don’t think there’s a problem with it. I think it gives fans deeper access. With social media, you can reach out to us immediately (and) when you get more access to the sports everybody loves, it can’t be too much of a bad thing. You’ve got a dog in the fight. You’re watching.”

For most players, though, fans who gamble are watching too closely — and it makes them very uncomfortable.

“It’s insane,” said one National League position player. “Nowadays it’s ‘f— you, f— your family.’ S—, it’s a bad day, I’m sorry. It’s not like I called you and said, ‘Bet on me today.’ You’re making the fans expect us to go 4-for-4 every day.”

He continued: “I get requests all the time on Venmo: ‘Thank you for making me lose $2,000 last night …’ I get threats: ‘I’m going to shoot you from my apartment. I live right across (from) the stadium.’ … I got three or four texts like that and I had to report it to MLB security. I don’t know if it’s for real, but I don’t want to find out.”

One AL reliever said he also fears violent retaliation, and that the Athletics’ anticipated move to Las Vegas in 2028 could be problematic.

“I think there’s going to be a security risk or personnel risk,” he said. “Someone’s going to lose a bunch of money and track down somebody in a parking lot, especially if the A’s end up moving to Vegas. With the live betting, it could get pretty serious.”

One National League pitcher said he mutes the word “parlay” on his social media accounts and uses an alias for Venmo. The online abuse, he said, can make players cynical.

“People suck, dude,” he said. “But it’s part of it. I had a teammate respond to every person who said they lost money on him: ‘You’re so poor!’ That’s kind of funny, (but) it’s best to not respond to anything. X isn’t fun anymore.”

One AL East pitcher said he deleted all of his social media accounts and called it “the best thing I ever did.” But players are human, too, and to expect them to avoid social media and all gambling sites can be unrealistic.

Tucupita Marcano, an infielder for San Diego and Pittsburgh from 2021 to 2023, was banned for life last June for betting on baseball, and four other pro players were suspended for a year. One 11-year veteran said it’s naive to think that players can’t be tempted.

“The fact that it’s so easy to do and you can just go on your phone and just look up prop bets, everybody is gambling,” he said. “Every man that I know. Obviously not baseball players on baseball, but baseball players are gambling on other sports whenever they can. It’s easy, it’s fun, whatever. … You don’t have to travel to Vegas to go to a sportsbook like it’s 2010. It’s insane. The obsession with gambling is wild. People watch sports now and it’s all about the gambling. It’s not about who wins the game anymore.”

And that, one NL catcher said, is antithetical to the way things should be. The embrace of legalized gambling, he said, was a bad bet for MLB.

“It needs to be abolished,” the catcher said. “It’s brought more fans to the games the wrong way.”

Editor’s note: Some player quotes included in this story have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photo of Lance McCullers Jr.: Rob Carr / Getty Images)

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